Make Money Online by Watching the Numbers!
Have you ever wanted to read a StatCounter review? Well, your dream just came true! There are many tools that an internet marketer uses in their mission to make money online. When you are just starting out one of the major questions you may end up asking yourself is: How do I track my website’s statistics?
If you’re like me then you have asked yourself… How do I track multiple websites?
The best solution I’ve found so far is a service called StatCounter! Relax… take a deep breath, their basic service is FREE.
Here comes the part where you sigh and say wow! I thought he was trying to sell me something? Not in this article but watch out for the next one!
It’s not convenient to have multiple Google Analytics screens open at once but regardless, Google Analytics is a fantastic service and you should take the time to use it on all of your sites if possible.
The great thing about the StatCounter service is that you can attach multiple websites and accounts simply by pasting some code into your website. Man does this thing save me time!
StatCounter is one of the best statistics service available… It gives you the ability to view bar charts showing daily, weekly and monthly analysis. Another nice thing about the service is that you don’t have to post a visible counter on your site.
Knowing your visitors and what they came for is crucial to developing marketing campaigns and growing your business. Recently, I noticed a few hits for keywords that I wasn’t really trying to target… When I researched this in more detail, I found out that the traffic was coming from search engine ranking places that were far from the first and second pages of results.
I was able to determine that there was a huge demand for this product and steadily I have been squeezing in keywords that are helping me rank better for the product in the hopes that someday I will reach the first page where the traffic maelstrom awaits.
The point is that if I wasn’t paying attention to my statistics, that keyword could have completely slipped under the radar and I would have never known about my new and very profitable source of additional traffic.
StatCounter offers features that many competitors are not able to provide including charts and graphics for visual analysis, visitor page loads, returning visitors and IP addresses. There are some things I like to keep to myself but in the effort of sharing I decided to bite the bullet and let this cat out of the bag.
Another thing that is great about the service is that it shows you the recent keyword terms that were searched for to reach your site! It also gives you the ability to monitor exit links which are very important for monitoring your marketing campaigns.
If you’re still trying to figure out how to make money online, watch those exit links buddy! Once you get traffic flowing into your site you still need to know what to do with it… Some people will set up Google Adsense or Adbrite text links, others will try to capitalize on reviews and affiliate products or people like me may try everything until they find the best solution!
The point being is that when someone comes to your site the only thing left for them to do after they have found or not found what they were looking for is leave. The exit points are what you need to watch closely because you can learn a lot about the behavior of your visitors. If you don’t find that many exit links and being clicked you will want to change the flow of your site so that they click on something you want them too… More importantly, you have to offer them something that’s more interesting than closing the window.
To make a long story short, making money online is just like making money offline… You need to review where you find success and expand upon it. Our failures are what make us successful so get StatCounter and watch the numbers.
Showing posts with label internet marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet marketing. Show all posts
Friday, January 23, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
How to Increase Google Page Rank | What is Link Juice?
Internet marketing can be a very effective way to make money online. The truth of the matter is that no matter how much marketing you do, if you don’t focus on SEO, you will be reliant on paid visitors from Google Adwords or another PPC advertiser as your primary source of traffic.
What could be better than paid traffic? I think we both know the answer to that one…
So what is a webmaster or blogger to do? Focus on your search engine optimization, increase your page rank and target your niche keywords!
At the end of the top if you don’t like spending hundreds and thousands of dollars annually on paid traffic and you’re not at the top of the SERP’s i.e. Search Engine Results Pages, you’re not going to be happy.
Internet marketing revolves around the numbers, variables that you want to consider include:
1.) Unique Visitors
2.) Organic Traffic
3.) Paid Traffic
4.) Conversion Rate
If you have a great conversion rate, maybe you don’t feel like natural traffic is worth the effort. Let’s say you spend $20 on a Google Adwords campaign and you make $25 in affiliate commissions from the resulting traffic… Obviously it’s turning a profit so you may as well keep doing it right?
Imagine if you added natural traffic into the mix as well, then you may be spending the same amount of money and making twice as much in commissions.
There are limitations to PPC campaigns; you need to bid on a particular keyword. It’s much better to diversify and obtain traffic from multiple sources, that way if one of your channels fizzles out you won’t have to fizzle out with it.
The two areas you will want to focus on are on-page search engine optimization and target keyword backlinks.
If you’re page is optimized better than your competitor’s for a targeted keyword and you have a higher quantity of authority niche related backlinks you will be able to beat them out on the SERP’s, it’s that easy…
Oh, yah, I just remembered it’s not that easy... That’s why you’re still here right?
Link Juice is a term used to refer to the quality and strength of a given link. If the link has more pull, then it has more link juice…
Let’s discuss backlinks for a moment…
What are the two types of backlinks you can obtain?
1.) Two Way Backlinks
This is a link that connects from your site to another site. They link back to your site creating a two way link relationship. These can generally be obtained in link exchanges and through networking contacts. A word of advice… These are hardly worth anything as they are not given much weight in terms of Google authority. They’ve got weak link juice, got it??
2.) One Way Backlinks
This is a link that simply links from one website to another. Google considers this type of link to be a lot more important because of the law of self interest. Obviously the site linking to you considers you an appropriate reference and decided to give you credit out of the kindness of their heart.
Not really, but you get the point… Not all one way links are created equal. Some of them can be actually bad for you depending on their page rank and authority position. There are sites called link farms that you should stay away from at all costs, Google’s system is extremely advance and can recognize foul play.
Generally if you do participate in this type of behavior, Google will just ignore the links but in a worst case scenario you may actually take a hit in your rankings because of it.
All of this linking is valuable only if you know how to leverage the links themselves.
This is where the term Anchor Text comes into play. You will see major improvements in your SEO if your backlinks are contained in your target keywords.
The best type of one way link will be one from a reputable website i.e. government or otherwise discussing a topic that is in direct relation to your niche. The link will be contained in a paragraph using your target keyword. That would have some major link juice!
I hope you enjoyed this article about earning money online by harnessing the awesome power of link juice. More on search engine optimization strategies to come!
What could be better than paid traffic? I think we both know the answer to that one…
So what is a webmaster or blogger to do? Focus on your search engine optimization, increase your page rank and target your niche keywords!
At the end of the top if you don’t like spending hundreds and thousands of dollars annually on paid traffic and you’re not at the top of the SERP’s i.e. Search Engine Results Pages, you’re not going to be happy.
Internet marketing revolves around the numbers, variables that you want to consider include:
1.) Unique Visitors
2.) Organic Traffic
3.) Paid Traffic
4.) Conversion Rate
If you have a great conversion rate, maybe you don’t feel like natural traffic is worth the effort. Let’s say you spend $20 on a Google Adwords campaign and you make $25 in affiliate commissions from the resulting traffic… Obviously it’s turning a profit so you may as well keep doing it right?
Imagine if you added natural traffic into the mix as well, then you may be spending the same amount of money and making twice as much in commissions.
There are limitations to PPC campaigns; you need to bid on a particular keyword. It’s much better to diversify and obtain traffic from multiple sources, that way if one of your channels fizzles out you won’t have to fizzle out with it.
The two areas you will want to focus on are on-page search engine optimization and target keyword backlinks.
If you’re page is optimized better than your competitor’s for a targeted keyword and you have a higher quantity of authority niche related backlinks you will be able to beat them out on the SERP’s, it’s that easy…
Oh, yah, I just remembered it’s not that easy... That’s why you’re still here right?
What is Link Juice?
Link Juice is a term used to refer to the quality and strength of a given link. If the link has more pull, then it has more link juice…
Let’s discuss backlinks for a moment…
What are the two types of backlinks you can obtain?
1.) Two Way Backlinks
This is a link that connects from your site to another site. They link back to your site creating a two way link relationship. These can generally be obtained in link exchanges and through networking contacts. A word of advice… These are hardly worth anything as they are not given much weight in terms of Google authority. They’ve got weak link juice, got it??
2.) One Way Backlinks
This is a link that simply links from one website to another. Google considers this type of link to be a lot more important because of the law of self interest. Obviously the site linking to you considers you an appropriate reference and decided to give you credit out of the kindness of their heart.
Not really, but you get the point… Not all one way links are created equal. Some of them can be actually bad for you depending on their page rank and authority position. There are sites called link farms that you should stay away from at all costs, Google’s system is extremely advance and can recognize foul play.
Generally if you do participate in this type of behavior, Google will just ignore the links but in a worst case scenario you may actually take a hit in your rankings because of it.
All of this linking is valuable only if you know how to leverage the links themselves.
This is where the term Anchor Text comes into play. You will see major improvements in your SEO if your backlinks are contained in your target keywords.
The best type of one way link will be one from a reputable website i.e. government or otherwise discussing a topic that is in direct relation to your niche. The link will be contained in a paragraph using your target keyword. That would have some major link juice!
I hope you enjoyed this article about earning money online by harnessing the awesome power of link juice. More on search engine optimization strategies to come!
What is Internet Marketing? | Is Internet Marketing Blogging?
Sometimes I need to refresh myself on the difference between blogging and internet marketing. When you write an article for a blog about internet marketing, is it still considered blogging?
I think most people consider blogging to be a form of expression that is directly related to their personal life.
Wikipedia defines internet marketing or online marketing, as the marketing of products or services over the World Wide Web.
For the most part, the distinction between a blogger and an internet marketer is a bit fuzzy. The most obvious realization is that the average blogger probably doesn’t make that much money online whereas the business savvy internet marketing might make a fortune selling advertising and affiliate products.
Generally bloggers write about their experiences, their opinions, current events, and things that interest them.
Internet marketers tend to focus on subjects that will help them make money online like search engine optimization, affiliate reviews, and marketing techniques. They are focused on making money plain and simple.
The typical internet marketer spends half their time in the field writing and the other half researching, optimizing and obtaining inbound links.
Bloggers generally spend half their time writing and the other half of their time trying to get their peers to read their blogs.
To make a long story short just because you have a blog doesn’t necessarily mean you are marketing it correctly. If you are serious about your blog either way you will most likely need to acquire internet traffic to leverage your blog. Regardless of whether or not you want to earn money online with your blog, learning the basic principals of internet marketing will most likely prove to be very useful in the acquisition of internet traffic.
Most Bloggers Are Not Necessarily Internet Marketers
I think most people consider blogging to be a form of expression that is directly related to their personal life.
Wikipedia defines internet marketing or online marketing, as the marketing of products or services over the World Wide Web.
For the most part, the distinction between a blogger and an internet marketer is a bit fuzzy. The most obvious realization is that the average blogger probably doesn’t make that much money online whereas the business savvy internet marketing might make a fortune selling advertising and affiliate products.
Generally bloggers write about their experiences, their opinions, current events, and things that interest them.
Internet marketers tend to focus on subjects that will help them make money online like search engine optimization, affiliate reviews, and marketing techniques. They are focused on making money plain and simple.
Internet Marketers Are Notorious for Implementing Their Strategies with Blogs
The typical internet marketer spends half their time in the field writing and the other half researching, optimizing and obtaining inbound links.
Bloggers generally spend half their time writing and the other half of their time trying to get their peers to read their blogs.
To make a long story short just because you have a blog doesn’t necessarily mean you are marketing it correctly. If you are serious about your blog either way you will most likely need to acquire internet traffic to leverage your blog. Regardless of whether or not you want to earn money online with your blog, learning the basic principals of internet marketing will most likely prove to be very useful in the acquisition of internet traffic.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Internet Marketing – Blogger Vs. Domain
When creating a blog or website there are generally two options in regard to how you will need to set it up.
1.) Use a free hosted service.
An example of this would be sites like Blogger.com or Wordpress.com. Both of these companies offer a free sub-domain where you can host your own blog or website. They also offer turn-key installation so you won’t need to know much about the way websites work etc… You will walk through a simple setup and two minutes later you will be able to set up your first post.
This is a great way for the beginning blogger or website owner to start. It will give you a chance to become more familiar with html and also offer you an easy way to share your thoughts and research with the world.
2.) Purchase a Domain and Hosting
This will require a small investment but I think you will find that the advantages of taking this route vs. option one far outweigh the costs.
This article is dedicated to exploring and listing the advantages of hosting your blog or site on your own domain.
Credibility – Having your own domain will commend a certain amount of credibility in your field. Many people will judge your site by how it looks rather than by the valuable content that it may provide. Having your own domain name will be more aesthetically pleasing. Compare the following two domains :
http://www.yourblogismoney.com
http://blog-basics-for-beginners.blogspot.com
Both of these sites have quality content but the first site has a URL that is easy to remember. If you had to make a choice between the two, which one would you prefer?
Security – Many people find security in a simple URL. Because of the high number of scams on the internet, generally shorter domain names are more trusted than those that are longer.
Ownership – I can’t stress this point enough. Even though sites like Blogger and WordPress have a commitment to keeping blogs online indefinitely, at the end of the day they are still in control of your sub-domain. They own your sub-domain! It’s hard to place a lot of confidence, time and effort into something that feels uncertain. Owning your own domain will give you a sense of security that many people find priceless.
SEO – Independent domains and sub-domains are treated differently by search engines. Although this fact is hard to prove, sites with their own domains are given priority over sites that are hosted on sub-domains. If you want traffic and your hoping to get this traffic from Google, Yahoo and MSN then having your site on it’s own domain definitely won’t hurt.
Ultimately the primary advantage is control. If you want to build something that is permanent and expandable, wouldn’t you also want to protect your investment?
If you do decide that you want to take control by purchasing and hosting your own domain, then you have made the same decision that I made a long time ago.
I’ve reviewed countless service providers and have come to the conclusion that the best way to do this is to purchase a domain name and hosting through a company called Bluehost. They will provide you with your own domain name free of charge and offer you their premium individual hosting service for only $6.95/month!
There are many options in regard to hosting but I know for a fact that Bluehost has the best price and customer service available. The combination is unbeatable!
Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss any of these topics further or have questions about web hosting, web development, how to set up your blog etc..
1.) Use a free hosted service.
An example of this would be sites like Blogger.com or Wordpress.com. Both of these companies offer a free sub-domain where you can host your own blog or website. They also offer turn-key installation so you won’t need to know much about the way websites work etc… You will walk through a simple setup and two minutes later you will be able to set up your first post.
This is a great way for the beginning blogger or website owner to start. It will give you a chance to become more familiar with html and also offer you an easy way to share your thoughts and research with the world.
2.) Purchase a Domain and Hosting
This will require a small investment but I think you will find that the advantages of taking this route vs. option one far outweigh the costs.
This article is dedicated to exploring and listing the advantages of hosting your blog or site on your own domain.
Credibility – Having your own domain will commend a certain amount of credibility in your field. Many people will judge your site by how it looks rather than by the valuable content that it may provide. Having your own domain name will be more aesthetically pleasing. Compare the following two domains :
http://www.yourblogismoney.com
http://blog-basics-for-beginners.blogspot.com
Both of these sites have quality content but the first site has a URL that is easy to remember. If you had to make a choice between the two, which one would you prefer?
Security – Many people find security in a simple URL. Because of the high number of scams on the internet, generally shorter domain names are more trusted than those that are longer.
Ownership – I can’t stress this point enough. Even though sites like Blogger and WordPress have a commitment to keeping blogs online indefinitely, at the end of the day they are still in control of your sub-domain. They own your sub-domain! It’s hard to place a lot of confidence, time and effort into something that feels uncertain. Owning your own domain will give you a sense of security that many people find priceless.
SEO – Independent domains and sub-domains are treated differently by search engines. Although this fact is hard to prove, sites with their own domains are given priority over sites that are hosted on sub-domains. If you want traffic and your hoping to get this traffic from Google, Yahoo and MSN then having your site on it’s own domain definitely won’t hurt.
Ultimately the primary advantage is control. If you want to build something that is permanent and expandable, wouldn’t you also want to protect your investment?
If you do decide that you want to take control by purchasing and hosting your own domain, then you have made the same decision that I made a long time ago.
I’ve reviewed countless service providers and have come to the conclusion that the best way to do this is to purchase a domain name and hosting through a company called Bluehost. They will provide you with your own domain name free of charge and offer you their premium individual hosting service for only $6.95/month!
There are many options in regard to hosting but I know for a fact that Bluehost has the best price and customer service available. The combination is unbeatable!
Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss any of these topics further or have questions about web hosting, web development, how to set up your blog etc..
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Sunday, January 4, 2009
SEO – 4 Ways to Increase Your Page Rank
In previous articles we have spent significant time discussing page rank and SEO. In regard to page rank there are several things that affect your ranking. It’s possible to make improvements both internally and externally. I have found that the most important factor that affects page rank is backlinks.
The following list includes four methods you can use to obtain backlinks.
1. Reach out and try to negotiate or ask other webmasters in related fields to link to your website. This will be a difficult task but in many cases if approached the right way, site owners are sometimes willing to assist their fellow bloggers in this way.
2. Make sure to submit your site to indexes and directories. It’s very important to register with as many search directories as possible. Search engine directories provide high quality one-way backlinks that are sure to improve your page rank.
3. Register and participate in forums related to your topic of discussion. In most cases you will be able to add your backlink either in your signature or in the body of your post.
As an added bonus you will gain targeted traffic through the forums you participate in.
Keep in mind that these are people that are genuinely interested in your topic. They may become regulars and subscribe to your RSS feeds.
4. Submit your articles to free online publishers. I have discussed this in previous articles as well. There are several sites you can use to submit articles and drop your backlinks. Two of my favorite sites for this purpose include ISnare.com and GoArticles.com.
Lastly, if you use all these methods to increase your SEO and page rank, you will see results very quickly. Sometimes it may take longer than expected due to something called the Google Sandbox. I will explain the sandbox and describe its purpose in future articles so stay tuned!
The following list includes four methods you can use to obtain backlinks.
1. Reach out and try to negotiate or ask other webmasters in related fields to link to your website. This will be a difficult task but in many cases if approached the right way, site owners are sometimes willing to assist their fellow bloggers in this way.
2. Make sure to submit your site to indexes and directories. It’s very important to register with as many search directories as possible. Search engine directories provide high quality one-way backlinks that are sure to improve your page rank.
3. Register and participate in forums related to your topic of discussion. In most cases you will be able to add your backlink either in your signature or in the body of your post.
As an added bonus you will gain targeted traffic through the forums you participate in.
Keep in mind that these are people that are genuinely interested in your topic. They may become regulars and subscribe to your RSS feeds.
4. Submit your articles to free online publishers. I have discussed this in previous articles as well. There are several sites you can use to submit articles and drop your backlinks. Two of my favorite sites for this purpose include ISnare.com and GoArticles.com.
Lastly, if you use all these methods to increase your SEO and page rank, you will see results very quickly. Sometimes it may take longer than expected due to something called the Google Sandbox. I will explain the sandbox and describe its purpose in future articles so stay tuned!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Page Rank - 10 Links for Search Engine Optimization
In previous articles, I have discussed the importance of page rank and SEO i.e. Search Engine Optimization.
Obviously, SEO is very important to your page rank, the better your site is organized and indexed, the better the chances of you getting a high page rank. If you can't find yourself in the search engines, you don't have much of a chance to get a high ranking do you?
Keep in mind, you will only want to submit your site once to each search engine, if you submit more than once, there is a high probability it will penalize your SEO and page rank.
After your site becomes indexed, spiders will crawl it regularly looking for new content and updates. Try to keep your site fresh, add a few things every week if possible.
The following section will provide links to various search engines for submission.
I've provided two ways to submit your site to the search engines.
My new favorite option is DreamSubmit. They have a way to automatically submit your website to several search engines all at the same time. Their free choice is an excellent to get a ton of submissions in a manner of minutes! Please review the auto-submit options and use at your own discression :
Auto Submission :
DreamSubmit
AddMe.com
FreeWebSubmission
Submit Express
Manual Submission :
Submit URL to Google
Submit URL to MSN Search
Submit URL to Yahoo Search
Submit URL to ExactSeek
Submit URL to Acoona
Submit URL to Scrub The Web
Several sites require you to manually submit, one of the most notable that requires manual submission is Yahoo Search. Make sure to manually submit to Yahoo Search because it is one of the top three indexes you will want to register with for optimum SEO and page rank.
Please let me know if you found this article helpful. If I forgot anything, please drop a comment and I will add it to the list.
Obviously, SEO is very important to your page rank, the better your site is organized and indexed, the better the chances of you getting a high page rank. If you can't find yourself in the search engines, you don't have much of a chance to get a high ranking do you?
Keep in mind, you will only want to submit your site once to each search engine, if you submit more than once, there is a high probability it will penalize your SEO and page rank.
After your site becomes indexed, spiders will crawl it regularly looking for new content and updates. Try to keep your site fresh, add a few things every week if possible.
The following section will provide links to various search engines for submission.
I've provided two ways to submit your site to the search engines.
My new favorite option is DreamSubmit. They have a way to automatically submit your website to several search engines all at the same time. Their free choice is an excellent to get a ton of submissions in a manner of minutes! Please review the auto-submit options and use at your own discression :
Auto Submission :
DreamSubmit
AddMe.com
FreeWebSubmission
Submit Express
Manual Submission :
Submit URL to Google
Submit URL to MSN Search
Submit URL to Yahoo Search
Submit URL to ExactSeek
Submit URL to Acoona
Submit URL to Scrub The Web
Several sites require you to manually submit, one of the most notable that requires manual submission is Yahoo Search. Make sure to manually submit to Yahoo Search because it is one of the top three indexes you will want to register with for optimum SEO and page rank.
Please let me know if you found this article helpful. If I forgot anything, please drop a comment and I will add it to the list.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Blog Basics for Beginners: How to Make Money Online With Blogs – Step 5
Great, you’re back for more huh? Ok, let’s recap the last episode before moving forward… The most important considerations in regard to page rank are:
1.) Article Content
2.) Article Length
3.) Keywords
4.) Volume
5.) Backlinks
6.) Age of Content
Alright, now on to the good stuff… I assume by now you have created a blog and tried your best to optimize it for search. Hopefully you have also created a few “anchor articles” i.e. long articles with in-depth analysis of your subject.
If it’s our goal to generate natural Google search traffic we will need to find a way to make our site more important than sites that are above us in the search results.
Google looks at each “backlink” and shares merit and strength between your page the one you linked to. So it is logical to assume that we need to place links on sites that have a higher page rank and have subject matter that is relevant to ours.
The following is a list of places you may want to try to place content/backlinks:
1.) Forums and Guestbooks – These sites won’t get you too much of a boost but they definitely will not hurt. Make sure the forum or guestbook is on a site with higher page rank in one of your target keywords and also try your best not to leave a spam comment. Look at the topic of the forum and contribute something relevant. This way you will not only have an opportunity to leave a backlink but you may also make some friends and generate some subscribers in the process.
2.) Blogs and Related websites – Try your best to find blogs with the same keywords as your own, read their content and provide insightful feedback on the comments section of your favorite articles. You will find that most bloggers are very open and willing to help you in your quest if you approach them the right way. Encourage them to visit your site and request feedback and suggestions for improvement. Not only will you be gaining excellent backlinks but you will also be creating allies that may very well help to catapult you to success in the future.
3.) Social Networks – Sites like BuzzFeed, Delicious, Technorati, Digg, Zimbio are great places to claim your blogs, attach your sites and create profiles. These sites have huge amounts of traffic, and even better, its traffic that is actually looking for the content that you provide. Getting a good reputation with these sites will not only increase your traffic but will also most likely assist your page rank in some way or another.
4.) Publication Websites – There are several sites that let you publish articles free of charge. The articles are then featured in their community and sometimes they are syndicated outside the community to interested parties. If someone publishes your work verbatim, google will find out when its bot crawls the page and guess what… your page rank will go up! This is why I previously emphasized original content so much, if it’s not original, it’s not going to help. Anyways, the key to gaining page rank from these publication websites is original content.
Recommendation : Re-write your favorite articles and submit them to GoArticles.com. This way you will have your original content and you will have a re-write posted with their site. Google will check out their page, identify the article as original content and give your backlink credit! There you go, that’s an instant boost in credibility!
The following is a list of other places you will be able to e-publish articles:
http://article-niche.com/
http://articles4content.com/
http://blogtelecast.com
http://dir.salon.com/
http://news.collectors.org/
http://superpublisher.com/
http://www.amazines.com/
http://www.articlealley.com/
http://www.article-buzz.com/
http://www.articlecentral.com
http://www.articlecity.com/
http://www.articlecube.com/
http://www.articledashboard.com/
http://www.article-directory.net
http://www.article-directory.net/
http://www.article-emporium.com
http://www.articlefever.com/
http://www.article-hangout.com/
http://www.articletogo.com/
http://www.articleworld.net/
http://www.certificate.net/wwio/
http://www.content-articles.com/
http://www.directorygold.com/
http://www.ebooksnbytes.com
http://www.ezinearticles.com/
http://www.free-articles-zone.com/
http://www.ideamarketers.com
http://www.impactarticles.com/
http://www.internethomebusinessarticles.com
http://www.isnare.com/
http://www.jogena.com/articles/articleform.htm
http://www.magportal.com/
http://www.newarticlesonline.com/
http://www.niche-article-directory.com/
http://www.site-reference.com
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/marketing-article-directory.html
http://www.stickysauce.com
http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/
http://www.webarticles.com/
This concludes the series - Blog Basics for Beginners: How to Make Money Online with Blogs
Thanks for taking the time to participate in this tutorial. I’m very curious to hear your feedback regarding the content of these articles. Please drop me a line with questions/comments or suggestions for improvement.
1.) Article Content
2.) Article Length
3.) Keywords
4.) Volume
5.) Backlinks
6.) Age of Content
Alright, now on to the good stuff… I assume by now you have created a blog and tried your best to optimize it for search. Hopefully you have also created a few “anchor articles” i.e. long articles with in-depth analysis of your subject.
If it’s our goal to generate natural Google search traffic we will need to find a way to make our site more important than sites that are above us in the search results.
Google looks at each “backlink” and shares merit and strength between your page the one you linked to. So it is logical to assume that we need to place links on sites that have a higher page rank and have subject matter that is relevant to ours.
The following is a list of places you may want to try to place content/backlinks:
1.) Forums and Guestbooks – These sites won’t get you too much of a boost but they definitely will not hurt. Make sure the forum or guestbook is on a site with higher page rank in one of your target keywords and also try your best not to leave a spam comment. Look at the topic of the forum and contribute something relevant. This way you will not only have an opportunity to leave a backlink but you may also make some friends and generate some subscribers in the process.
2.) Blogs and Related websites – Try your best to find blogs with the same keywords as your own, read their content and provide insightful feedback on the comments section of your favorite articles. You will find that most bloggers are very open and willing to help you in your quest if you approach them the right way. Encourage them to visit your site and request feedback and suggestions for improvement. Not only will you be gaining excellent backlinks but you will also be creating allies that may very well help to catapult you to success in the future.
3.) Social Networks – Sites like BuzzFeed, Delicious, Technorati, Digg, Zimbio are great places to claim your blogs, attach your sites and create profiles. These sites have huge amounts of traffic, and even better, its traffic that is actually looking for the content that you provide. Getting a good reputation with these sites will not only increase your traffic but will also most likely assist your page rank in some way or another.
4.) Publication Websites – There are several sites that let you publish articles free of charge. The articles are then featured in their community and sometimes they are syndicated outside the community to interested parties. If someone publishes your work verbatim, google will find out when its bot crawls the page and guess what… your page rank will go up! This is why I previously emphasized original content so much, if it’s not original, it’s not going to help. Anyways, the key to gaining page rank from these publication websites is original content.
Recommendation : Re-write your favorite articles and submit them to GoArticles.com. This way you will have your original content and you will have a re-write posted with their site. Google will check out their page, identify the article as original content and give your backlink credit! There you go, that’s an instant boost in credibility!
The following is a list of other places you will be able to e-publish articles:
http://article-niche.com/
http://articles4content.com/
http://blogtelecast.com
http://dir.salon.com/
http://news.collectors.org/
http://superpublisher.com/
http://www.amazines.com/
http://www.articlealley.com/
http://www.article-buzz.com/
http://www.articlecentral.com
http://www.articlecity.com/
http://www.articlecube.com/
http://www.articledashboard.com/
http://www.article-directory.net
http://www.article-directory.net/
http://www.article-emporium.com
http://www.articlefever.com/
http://www.article-hangout.com/
http://www.articletogo.com/
http://www.articleworld.net/
http://www.certificate.net/wwio/
http://www.content-articles.com/
http://www.directorygold.com/
http://www.ebooksnbytes.com
http://www.ezinearticles.com/
http://www.free-articles-zone.com/
http://www.ideamarketers.com
http://www.impactarticles.com/
http://www.internethomebusinessarticles.com
http://www.isnare.com/
http://www.jogena.com/articles/articleform.htm
http://www.magportal.com/
http://www.newarticlesonline.com/
http://www.niche-article-directory.com/
http://www.site-reference.com
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/marketing-article-directory.html
http://www.stickysauce.com
http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/
http://www.webarticles.com/
This concludes the series - Blog Basics for Beginners: How to Make Money Online with Blogs
Thanks for taking the time to participate in this tutorial. I’m very curious to hear your feedback regarding the content of these articles. Please drop me a line with questions/comments or suggestions for improvement.
Blog Basics for Beginners: How to Make Money Online With Blogs – Step 4
I know this stuff can be a bit overwhelming at first, its hard work getting to the top of Google, MSN and Yahoo but if you do a few things every day in your favor, you will see your readership grow exponentially. Some people may say that they don’t care about things like page rank, but think about it; if you want more people to pay attention to your blog, you’re going to have to find a way to let them know you’re out here.
Making money online is just an added bonus… So that being said, let’s talk about factors that Google and other search engines find useful in determining what order your blog/site should be placed...
The following variables are extremely important in determining your page rank:
1.) Article Content
Focus on creating high quality content for your blog or website; this content should be unique and helpful to your target audience. Content that is not unique i.e. copied from another source verbatim will get you nowhere as Google is adept at recognizing duplicate articles etc... In fact if you were to copy someone else’s work word-for-word chances are you would be in a lot of trouble for copyright infringement, Google would penalize your page ranking and the author that originally wrote the article would get an added bonus by jumping up in their Google ranking..
2.) Article Length
Google and other search engines place more value on longer articles. It is important to elaborate on a subject if you want authority. Generally if your article is longer then your competitors in the same arena, you will become the authority figure for that particular subject. Remember there are algorithms at work here behind the scenes that are unknown to the general population, if we knew the exact formula we would most likely be millionaires right? Regardless you will want to make your posts/articles around 400-500 words each if you are counting on them to increase your page rank.
3.) Keywords
This is extremely important when it comes to SEO and increasing your Page Rank. If you remember me discussing this previously, it is our goal to rank as high as possible using keywords that apply to your particular niche, generally it’s a good idea to use your target keywords several times in an article but don’t go overboard or else Google may decide to mark the particular article as spam. Generally if you use your keyword three to four times in any given article you will be on the right track to gaining momentum in this arena.
4.) Volume
Keep in mind that after your page gets indexed, Google and other search engines have bots that crawl through your content regularly looking for updates and new posts…. The more content you can provide your readers with, the better your chance of getting listed as a site of importance; also, it is inevitable that your keywords will be used in higher volume which is a consideration in page rank as well. If you only have a few articles/posts, chances are you will not be considered as noteworthy as a blog with a huge quantity of valuable articles similar to your own.
5.) Backlinks
If you’ve made it this far, its obvious that you are dedicated to this subject for one reason or another, what is unclear to me is how you arrived here in the first place but its very possible that you reached this page through a backlink that I have placed on a different website.
What is a Backlink?
A backlink is a link that connects a forum, directory, website or blog back to your page. Generally in regard to page rank this is the bread and butter. Without a high quantity of quality backlinks you’re essentially dead in the water. They are very time consuming to create but it should be your goal to spend half your time writing and the other half reading and commenting on other blogs/sites if you want people to take time out of their day to review your content.
Don’t forget that the links you create should be relevant to what you write about. If your subject is the Amazonian Rainforest, it won’t do you any good to post a ton of backlinks on blogs and forums about skydiving. Get my drift?
6.) Age of Content
This is one of the least important factors in regard to page rank but none the less it does have merit. Think about it, if your blog or site is brand new, how much credibility should it get at first glance? Should it be considered as a credible source right out of the gates? How much credibility would you give a baby when it came to important matters? Just focus on the first five topics primarily because this is a variable you don’t have much control over… The older your blog or site gets the more credibility it will receive as long as your content stays fresh!
Well, that’s a lot of information to take in all at once… Take some time to reflect on the following six topics and try your best to apply them to your blog.
Also, you may want to try getting backlinks with the content you’ve already created. There are several sites in which you can post your articles in addition to your blog, you will receive credit and obtain one-way backlinks for your effort! One way backlinks are the most valuable and coveted in regard to page rank. I will discuss how to do this in the following post:
Blog Basics for Beginners: How to Make Money Online With Blogs – Step 5
If you’ve enjoyed this series up until now, please go ahead and leave me a comment with your feedback, recommendations etc.. Also, if there is anything that I discussed in this series you would like me to clarify or elaborate on, please go ahead and let me know!
Making money online is just an added bonus… So that being said, let’s talk about factors that Google and other search engines find useful in determining what order your blog/site should be placed...
The following variables are extremely important in determining your page rank:
1.) Article Content
Focus on creating high quality content for your blog or website; this content should be unique and helpful to your target audience. Content that is not unique i.e. copied from another source verbatim will get you nowhere as Google is adept at recognizing duplicate articles etc... In fact if you were to copy someone else’s work word-for-word chances are you would be in a lot of trouble for copyright infringement, Google would penalize your page ranking and the author that originally wrote the article would get an added bonus by jumping up in their Google ranking..
2.) Article Length
Google and other search engines place more value on longer articles. It is important to elaborate on a subject if you want authority. Generally if your article is longer then your competitors in the same arena, you will become the authority figure for that particular subject. Remember there are algorithms at work here behind the scenes that are unknown to the general population, if we knew the exact formula we would most likely be millionaires right? Regardless you will want to make your posts/articles around 400-500 words each if you are counting on them to increase your page rank.
3.) Keywords
This is extremely important when it comes to SEO and increasing your Page Rank. If you remember me discussing this previously, it is our goal to rank as high as possible using keywords that apply to your particular niche, generally it’s a good idea to use your target keywords several times in an article but don’t go overboard or else Google may decide to mark the particular article as spam. Generally if you use your keyword three to four times in any given article you will be on the right track to gaining momentum in this arena.
4.) Volume
Keep in mind that after your page gets indexed, Google and other search engines have bots that crawl through your content regularly looking for updates and new posts…. The more content you can provide your readers with, the better your chance of getting listed as a site of importance; also, it is inevitable that your keywords will be used in higher volume which is a consideration in page rank as well. If you only have a few articles/posts, chances are you will not be considered as noteworthy as a blog with a huge quantity of valuable articles similar to your own.
5.) Backlinks
If you’ve made it this far, its obvious that you are dedicated to this subject for one reason or another, what is unclear to me is how you arrived here in the first place but its very possible that you reached this page through a backlink that I have placed on a different website.
What is a Backlink?
A backlink is a link that connects a forum, directory, website or blog back to your page. Generally in regard to page rank this is the bread and butter. Without a high quantity of quality backlinks you’re essentially dead in the water. They are very time consuming to create but it should be your goal to spend half your time writing and the other half reading and commenting on other blogs/sites if you want people to take time out of their day to review your content.
Don’t forget that the links you create should be relevant to what you write about. If your subject is the Amazonian Rainforest, it won’t do you any good to post a ton of backlinks on blogs and forums about skydiving. Get my drift?
6.) Age of Content
This is one of the least important factors in regard to page rank but none the less it does have merit. Think about it, if your blog or site is brand new, how much credibility should it get at first glance? Should it be considered as a credible source right out of the gates? How much credibility would you give a baby when it came to important matters? Just focus on the first five topics primarily because this is a variable you don’t have much control over… The older your blog or site gets the more credibility it will receive as long as your content stays fresh!
Well, that’s a lot of information to take in all at once… Take some time to reflect on the following six topics and try your best to apply them to your blog.
Also, you may want to try getting backlinks with the content you’ve already created. There are several sites in which you can post your articles in addition to your blog, you will receive credit and obtain one-way backlinks for your effort! One way backlinks are the most valuable and coveted in regard to page rank. I will discuss how to do this in the following post:
Blog Basics for Beginners: How to Make Money Online With Blogs – Step 5
If you’ve enjoyed this series up until now, please go ahead and leave me a comment with your feedback, recommendations etc.. Also, if there is anything that I discussed in this series you would like me to clarify or elaborate on, please go ahead and let me know!
Labels:
blog,
blogging,
how to setup a blog,
internet marketing,
make money online,
seo,
web traffic
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Blog Basics for Beginners: How to Make Money Online With Blogs – Step 3
Now that you have set up your blog and if so desired created a widget for your Adsense, banner, it is time to go ahead and write your first post…
Generally it is best to start off with an introduction of your site… Feel free to use this blog’s introduction as an example…
Make sure your title has your keywords in it as well as the description:
Welcome to Blog Basics for Beginners
Welcome to Blog Basics for Beginners. This site is dedicated to providing you with tips and tricks for beginning bloggers to help you make money online. If you have questions about any of the content on Blog Basics don't hesitate to send us an email with your question to info@yourblogismoney.com.
Notice how I used my keywords in my description, i.e. Make Money Online, Tips and Tricks for Beginning Bloggers etc...
This will become extremely important when Google attempts to index your page.
The goal is to get indexed by Google in a way that makes you easily searchable by your target demographic… Generally it can take weeks for Google to index your page, if you follow these instructions; chances are good that you will be indexed within the next few days.
Now you are probably thinking, “How do I know if my page has been indexed by Google?”
That is a great question! All you need to do to find out is go to Google’s website and search for your web address i.e. http://blog-basics-for-beginners.blogspot.com
If the next thing you see after searching for your blog is a page that says “This website could not be found.”
The answer is simply that Google has not yet indexed your page. In regard to search engines there are really only three that matter… You will want to make sure that your site is indexed with the following three companies:
Google / Yahoo / MSN
Always remember the following three things:
1.) The goal is to get traffic from Google / MSN / Yahoo Search.
2.) To get traffic from these companies your site will need to be found with popular keywords like “make money online,” “celebrity news,” etc..
3.) To get your keywords indexed you will need to create original content embedded with keywords that represent what your blog is about.
In the next part of this series I will explain how Google determines if your site is relevant, the object being to get on the TOP 2 Pages of search…
If you have any questions about any of this material thus far, please go ahead and post a comment, I will try my best to address them as quickly as possible… There is more than enough advertising money to go around, so why not help each other get it right?
When you are ready please follow me to the next step in my series entitled “Blog Basics for Beginners: How to Make Money Online with Blogs – Step 4”.
Written by Locke D.
Generally it is best to start off with an introduction of your site… Feel free to use this blog’s introduction as an example…
Make sure your title has your keywords in it as well as the description:
Welcome to Blog Basics for Beginners
Welcome to Blog Basics for Beginners. This site is dedicated to providing you with tips and tricks for beginning bloggers to help you make money online. If you have questions about any of the content on Blog Basics don't hesitate to send us an email with your question to info@yourblogismoney.com.
Notice how I used my keywords in my description, i.e. Make Money Online, Tips and Tricks for Beginning Bloggers etc...
This will become extremely important when Google attempts to index your page.
The goal is to get indexed by Google in a way that makes you easily searchable by your target demographic… Generally it can take weeks for Google to index your page, if you follow these instructions; chances are good that you will be indexed within the next few days.
Now you are probably thinking, “How do I know if my page has been indexed by Google?”
That is a great question! All you need to do to find out is go to Google’s website and search for your web address i.e. http://blog-basics-for-beginners.blogspot.com
If the next thing you see after searching for your blog is a page that says “This website could not be found.”
The answer is simply that Google has not yet indexed your page. In regard to search engines there are really only three that matter… You will want to make sure that your site is indexed with the following three companies:
Google / Yahoo / MSN
Always remember the following three things:
1.) The goal is to get traffic from Google / MSN / Yahoo Search.
2.) To get traffic from these companies your site will need to be found with popular keywords like “make money online,” “celebrity news,” etc..
3.) To get your keywords indexed you will need to create original content embedded with keywords that represent what your blog is about.
In the next part of this series I will explain how Google determines if your site is relevant, the object being to get on the TOP 2 Pages of search…
If you have any questions about any of this material thus far, please go ahead and post a comment, I will try my best to address them as quickly as possible… There is more than enough advertising money to go around, so why not help each other get it right?
When you are ready please follow me to the next step in my series entitled “Blog Basics for Beginners: How to Make Money Online with Blogs – Step 4”.
Written by Locke D.
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